The Lotte Giants of professional baseball secured a victory despite the relentless rain. They completed a three-game winning streak.
The Lotte Giants, led by Kim Tae-hyoung, won 3-1 against the Samsung Lions in a match held at Busan Sajik Stadium on the 20th. With this, Lotte surged to a three-game winning streak and became the third team in the league to achieve 40 wins, following Hanwha and LG. Their record stands at 40 wins, 31 losses, and 3 ties.
On this day, starter Alex Gamboa struggled with less control than before. Nevertheless, demonstrating crisis management ability, he pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 hits (1 home run), issuing 4 walks, striking out 8, and allowing 1 earned run.
In the second inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, Jeung Bo-keun produced a two-run double down the left field line to score the first run. After that, although Gamboa overcame the crisis, the lineup was unable to score additional runs.
In the top of the seventh, they allowed a solo home run to Park Byung-ho, permitting a chase. However, in the bottom of the eighth, Jung Hoon hit a solo homer against Samsung's Kim Jae-yoon, extending the lead to 3-1. It was a decisive home run. On this day, Lotte deployed their winning lineup of Jeong Hyeon-su, Jeong Cheol-won, and Kim Won-jung following Gamboa. However, all of them had pitched in three consecutive games. Nevertheless, Kim Tae-hyoung managed the tense game with a total effort, regardless of the three-game stretch.
After the game, Kim Tae-hyoung noted, “Starter Gamboa showed great pitching with a quality start, and I appreciate the middle relievers who performed well even after three consecutive games.” He added, “I want to commend the players for maintaining their concentration and engaging in the game despite the inclement weather.”
He continued, “And I want to express my gratitude to the fans who passionately supported us even while getting rained on.”
On the 21st, Lotte is set to start Park Se-woong, while Samsung will start Choi Won-tae.
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